Job Descriptions and Frequently Asked Questions for Volunteers/Guides
Project Connect in _____________! * Volunteers must be at event between 7:15 and 8:15 am Tuesday.
day/date: ___________________ * Service Providers must be set-up between 7:15 and BY 8:30 am.
9:00 am to 2:00 pm * Training and Proclamation for EVERYONE at 8:30 am.
at location HERE____________ * Bring Volunteers--they can sign up that morning!
address and/or directions HERE
Volunteers! Hooray for you! Let us start by THANKING YOU for your willingness to serve! If it were not for people like you in this community, this event would not be possible. We need people with generous hearts and willing attitudes to truly make this event a success. Project Connect is about uniting people in a community to improve the quality of life for all its’ citizens. We want to forget ourselves for a day and focus on serving those in need, connecting them to the groups and organizations that can offer them a hand up, not just a hand out.
If you have any questions about being a Volunteer or anything related to this event, email bob@artfulaskers.com or call someone who is a part of the Leadership Team for your community. Leadership Team members will be in RED SHIRTS. A few things every volunteer needs to know: We will have a brief training at 8:30 am on the morning of the event BUT everything you will be asked to do is easy! Most Volunteers will serve as a Guide and help people receive services by escorting them around the venue. The first e-mail from us to most Volunteers will be this e-mail BEFORE the Event itself. Obviously, if you are on the Leadership Team OR help in the planning of the Event, it will be different BUT most of our Volunteers will receive this General Information e-mail and then receive another email 3 or 4 days before the Event with more specific directions and assignments. Please forward it to others. THANK YOU. Most of all, show up the morning of the event BY 8:15 am—and feel free to bring a friend with you! When you arrive, please park as far away from the venue door as you can so as to allow the closer parking for our Guests (or carpool with others, too!).
Volunteers, if you are planning to be at the event for the full day, we encourage you to eat with your Guests during lunch hour. This is a great time to really get to know your guests and also enjoy some great food! If you are volunteering for shifts that are shorter, then we advise that you eat before or after your shift. If you desire to receive services yourself, we ask you to please receive services first and then register as a volunteer and get your shirt. Please park away from the venue to allow Guests to park closer to the venue and please leave your valuables at home. There are several assignments to specific types of volunteers!
If you need services BUT also want to Volunteer, we ask that you register as a Guest first—receive your services and when you are finished, let us know and we’ll register you as a Volunteer and get you a shirt at that time.
Volunteer, Service Provider and Guest Registration:General volunteers needed to greet and check in all Volunteers, hand out name badges and t-shirts, process on-site registration and direct volunteers to orientation. They will also assist with a variety of duties ranging from crowd control (inside and outside), welcoming Guests into the registration area, completing Registration information and placing stick-on-name-badges on Guests, handing out registration forms, helping Guests fill out forms, facilitating Guest flow to the Event registration tables, matching registered Guests to Guides and monitoring areas. Once you arrive and are ready, please help by starting at that time! If you need help, please ask!
Guide/Guest Escort: Most of our Volunteers will be Guides to escort our Guests throughout the various parts of the venue using a map. All Guests will be escorted from one booth to the next. Must be able to stand and walk for extended periods of time. Must be other-oriented and focused on helping Guest to feel at-home and comfortable. Make eye-contact, use their first name and focus on helping them! Most Volunteers will be Guides paired with a Guest to lead them through the event for the duration of their time there. Therefore, the event will require many volunteers. Guides need to be proactive in asking questions in order to lead guests to their highest priority Service Providers. Guides are most likely the most influential people during the guests' experience. Guides should be compassionate, kind, respectful, outgoing and patient. Guides should be prepared to work with people who may feel overwhelmed with their situation and need to be supportive and give encouragement and remain very positive throughout the day. As you walk through the venue with your Guest, have their Map/Passport stamped at every booth to increase their chances of winning prizes in a drawing at the end of the day. This also encourages more interaction between every Guest and every Service Provider. Please do NOT spend time on your phone—only use it for emergencies.
Specific Table Assistance:There are Service Providers/Vendors that need Volunteers to help in various ways. The Lice Checker, Photographer, Snack and Lunch Area, Exit Table Samples, etc. These are sit-down all day jobs for those interested.
Exit Interview/Data Collection:More skilled Volunteers in Guest management, communication, interview and listening skills and documentation. Will include Quantitative and Qualitative data gathering with one person who does ONLY brief interviews with Guests, Guides and Service Providers during the set-up, day of the event and tear-down. You will also counts stamps!
Guest Exit Bags:Help Guests complete an Exit Survey after having their needs met making sure the services are marked on Guests’ Passport. Assist Guests who wish to make a written comment about the Event. Assist Guests in locating their family or friends in the waiting area or venue, and help them to their vehicle if needed.
Interpreter/Translator:Serve as interpreter/translator to assist communication between Guests and Event personnel. Must be able to stand and walk for extended periods of time.
Visitors from Another Project Connect Potential Site:Visit and observe the process of Project Connect. If you are wanting to do this, email Bob Vickers at bob@artfulaskers.comwith your plans of observation and let him know what city you want to do a Project Connect event in. You can use our materials, everything we have already developed and we will help you!
Greeter:Greeters will need to greet Guests and volunteers, smile at them and direct them to another place. Most commonly, Greeters will direct guests to the Registration and Guide-Pairing area. Greeters should be friendly, outgoing, and kind. They should also be able to provide a HUGE smile to everyone!
Food Distribution and Clean-Up:This role will consist of serving Guests and Volunteers alike the prepared meal and maintaining a tidy and clean dining area. This role will primarily be from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and can incorporate younger Volunteers into the serving and cleaning tasks.
Facilities/Logistics: We will need MANY Set-Up Volunteers for the entire week: Volunteers are needed to help unload tables, chairs and other materials at site and set up venue areas as directed by leadership team/personnel. Set up tables and chairs, lay out electric cords and tape them down, put up signs. Must be able to carry heavy boxes and help move equipment. If you can help, please show up as close to 6:00 pm as is possible on _____________________. OR e-mail bob@artfuaskers.com.
Tear-Down (Sunday, _______ at 3:30 pm):General volunteers needed to help tear down venue, disassemble equipment, pack and load supply trucks/trailers as directed by leadership team/personnel. Must be able to carry boxes and move equipment.
Waste Management:General volunteers needed to periodically empty waste collection receptacles, collect trash and waste from inside and outside of the venue facility and occupied areas and dispose according to standard safety procedures.
Frequently Asked Questions for Service Providers/Vendors
Thank you for partnering with us for this event. _____________, ______________________, __________ (the Hosts) and many Service Providers to make Project Connect happen and to help those in need to receive essential services on this one special day. It is an important day for ALL of us! We have an intense desire to help unsheltered and sheltered homeless, unemployed, under-employed, the poor, under-resourced individuals, seniors, people with disabilities and others on fixed incomes, disabled, and many other vulnerable folks to access services--not just information--but to get them help with housing, employment, birth certificates, photo IDs, health care, dental care, educational info, and much more on this one day!
Service Provider Best Practice:We have done this event MANY times and have found the best practice for Service Providers to be standing at their booth and engaging people as they walk by. Make eye contact with Guests, call them by their first name (everyone will be wearing nametags), and ask them if they have a minute for you to help them with your offering, service, education, etc. If you engage them, they will stop BUT so many people have become accustomed to “Health Fairs” where they just walk by and pick up literature. This is NOT a Health Fair! We want them to stop at every booth and be engaged with our Service Providers and services. In fact, we want Service Providers to mark or “stamp” every Guest’s Passport allowing them more opportunity to win items that cannot be purchased with food stamps in the drawing at the end of the day post-Exit Survey.
1. When do I Set-Up? Set-up for Project Connect on __________ will be _____________, ________, 3:00 to 7:00 pm OR Tuesday morning between 7:30 and 8:15. You can pull to the front door to unload. Someone will be there to help you unload and transport your items to your booth. You will need to move your car immediately after unloading and you can park anywhere in the area. Please try to set-up Monday afternoon OR Tuesday morning before 8:15 am. We ask that you park as far away from the doors as possible on the morning of the event so as to make room for our Guests.
2. What do I need to do when I get to the Event Venue? When you first arrive, please fill out a Release form at the Registration Table. You will be given a tally sheet and an exit feedback form. You will then be guided to your booth. The documents are important and have been designed to provide optimum feedback for the event and Leadership Team. Please complete them when you arrive. You will be asked to “tally” meaningful interactions” throughout the day and also to answer a few questions before you leave in an Exit Survey.
3. What if I need help at the event?The Logistics Coordinator and a member of the Leadership Team will be available and assigned to help Service Providers and will be near you for the set-up and on the day of the Event. They will be able to assist you with any needs or contact someone who can immediately. On the day of the Event, if you need a break or are ready to eat lunch, please talk to a member of the Leadership Team so they can get a volunteer to cover your booth.
4. When will lunch be served? Everyone will be served Lunches from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. When you are ready for lunch or when you want a quick break, please let a member of the Leadership Team know so they can get a volunteer to cover your booth. Please feel free to eat your lunch in the Lunch area OR at your Booth if you choose.
5. How do I access the Internet while at the Venue? We will be able to provide you with internet access information that day BUT we will also have a technology person standing by to assist us if we have trouble accessing the internet. Please do a practice run of logging into the internet after setting up your booth to be certain we can get things set-up correctly.
6. Valuables and Parking: Please leave valuables at home or in the trunk of your car as there are no safe places to store them and we cannot be responsible for items. When you park, please try to park as far away from the venue as is possible so as to allow our Guests the closer parking access.
7. Finally:Please come expecting good things. We will help a LOT of people in a HUGE way on this one day.
If you have questions, want to Host an event, want to be a Service Provider OR can Volunteer, please contact:
For a pdf copy of the most recent DRAFT of the Project Connect Tool-kit, please e-mail us!
Did you know we also have a Tool-kit for starting your own warehouse and gleaning products, too?
Bob Vickers, Artful Askers
bob@ArtfulAskers.com
(660) 580-0007, Bob’s personal cell phone, brief calls/texts
OR
Suzanne Smith, Health Care Collaborative of Rural MO
Suzanne@hccnetwork.org
825 S. Business 13 Hwy, Lexington, MO 64067
(660) 259-2440
EVERYTHING is About Relationship! Be other-oriented throughout the entire day!
We want to develop relationships with our Guests, with other Volunteers, with Service Providers and with other people in our community. Everything in life is about relationship! We will always do our best to develop healthy relationships. We will do our best to have volunteers working in the category that is selected at registration. Volunteers may be asked to assist with other volunteer categories as needed but everything you will be asked to do is about relationship-building.
There are KEY characteristics that we are asking of all volunteers in inter-acting with our quests both corporately and individually to develop relationships and connect to services:
R espect, Honor, and Dignity to ALL.
--Make eye contact and treat people with respect. Speak their name.
E xpressions of Encouragement.
--Speak positive words. No sarcasm nor negative words. Be positive.
L isten, Acknowledge, & Consider Response.
--Listen more than you talk. Be kind and gentle. Don’t use your phone!
A ppreciate and Affirm.
--Say please/thank you—show appreciation to those trying help others.
T RUST In-Spite Of/Through Brokenness.
--Don’t say hurtful words or treat people poorly.
I dentify and Build on Commonalities.
--Find common things to talk about and affirm them.
O rder in Place and Deliberate Actions.
--There is an order to everything. Follow the process.
N urture and Understand.
--Nurture people to know that their better days are ahead of them.
S elf-less Orientation.
--Be other-oriented/other focused. Encourage people. Speak their name.
H ope, Faith, and Pursuit of Consistency.
--Give people hope that things will get better. Better days ahead!
I ntegrity Journey.
--Have integrity. Be predictable. Be reliable.
P ardon, GRACE, & Mercy MUST Abound.
--Give LOTS of grace and forgive a lot.
